Race industry furious Cookson allowed in

Bob Maumill and Rania Spooner

Leaders within the West Australian horse racing industry are furious over damage to racing's image in the wake of the Cookson affair and are demanding answers as to why a known career criminal was allowed to continue frequenting tracks.

"Thousands of honest people working hard to make a living in racing want to know why a criminal like Cookson was not warned off racing and training tracks," he said.

A senior racing official told Fairfax Media there were processes under which Cookson could have been "warned off", a consequence of serious wrongdoing in racing circles, that prevents somebody from attending any race meeting or racing property.

We cannot allow the criminal element to infiltrate our industry...look at the damage that Cookson has inflicted.

"The process requires stewards to issue a 'warned off' notice to the person," the official said.

"After that, the Notice must be approved by the Integrity Assurance Committee at Racing and Wagering WA."